Game creation system

A game creation system (GCS) is a consumer-targeted game engine and a set of specialized design tools, and sometimes also a light scripting language, engineered for the rapid iteration of user-derived video games.

Unlike more developer-oriented game engines, game creation systems promise an easy entry point for novice or hobbyist game designers, with often little to no coding required for simple behaviors. Although initially stigmatized, all-in-one game creation systems have gained some legitimacy with the central role of Unity, Pixel Game Maker MV, and GameMaker in the growth of the indie game development community.^[1] Currently the Independent Games Festival recognizes games produced with similar platforms.

Early game creation systems such as Broderbund's The Arcade Machine (1982), Pinball Construction Set (1983), ASCII's War Game Construction Kit (1983),^[2] Thunder Force Construction (1984),^[3] Adventure Construction Set (1984), Garry Kitchen's GameMaker (1985). Wargame Construction Set (1986), Shoot'Em-Up Construction Kit (1987), Mamirin / Dungeon Manjirou (1988), and Arcade Game Construction Kit (1988) appeared in the 1980s on home computers. 3D Construction Kit was released on the ZX Spectrum in 1991, and contained a full polygon-based world creation tool. Most of these early design frameworks are specific to one or another genre.

In the 1990s, game creation systems for the IBM PC shifted both to the more general and the more specific. Whereas frameworks like RSD Game-Maker and Klik & Play attempted to accommodate any genre, communities grew around games like ZZT (later MegaZeux^[4]) that permitted such extensive user modification that they essentially became de facto game creation systems. Pie in the Sky Software created a full on 2.5D first-person shooter creator out of an engine they previously used internally, which sold in three total versions until 2003; 3D GameStudio and products by The Game Creators have targeted similar creators.

In the mid-2000s, with the growth of the World Wide Web and social networking, programs like BlitzBasic and Multimedia Fusion headlined an explosion of interest both in indie games and in canned game design software.^{[citation needed]} Whereas earlier game creation systems tend to err on the side of user friendly interfaces,^[5] 21st-century systems are often distinguished by extensive scripting languages that attempt to account for every possible user variable.^{[citation needed]} Other general purpose game creation systems include Construct, Clickteam, Buildbox, Game Editor, GameSalad, GDevelop and Stencyl.

Features

Tools

Several game creation systems include some of the following tools:

• Integrated development environment: for managing projects and resources
• Command-line interface: for compiling and debugging games
• Sprite editor: for the editing of animated images commonly referred to as sprites
• Model editor: for 3D modeling purposes
• Map/Scene editor: generally used for object and tile placement

Scripting

The rise of game creation systems also saw a rise in the need for free form scripting languages with general purpose use. Some packages, such as Conitec's Gamestudio, include a more comprehensive scripting language under the surface to allow users more leeway in defining their games' behavior.

Usage

While most of the mainstream and popular game creation systems may be general-purpose, several exist solely for specific genres.^[6]

• Adventure games: Adventure Master, World Builder, Adventure Game Studio, Twine, Wintermute Engine, SLUDGE^[7]
• First-person shooters: 3D Game Creation System, FPS Creator, Silent Walk FPS Creator,^[8] Raycasting Game Maker,^[9] Easy FPS Editor^[10]
• Fighting games: Fighter Maker, Mugen, IKEMEN Go^[11]
• Role-playing games: RPG Maker, OHRRPGCE, EasyRPG,^[12] Solarus,^[13] Sphere^[14]
• Dungeon crawlers: Forgotten Realms: Unlimited Adventures, The Bard's Tale Construction Set
• Space combat game: Wing Commander Academy
• Visual novels: Ren'Py
• Massively multiplayer online games: Roblox, Core, Rec Room
• Platform games: LittleBigPlanet, Super Mario Maker, PlataGO!, Geometry Dash
• General-purpose: Dreams, Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 04: VR Kit, Game Builder Garage, Fancade

See also

• Game engine
• Level editor

References

1. insert credit, "From Shooter to Shooter: The Rise of cly5m" 2012-01-19 at the Wayback Machine
2. . Oh!FM. Archived from the original on 28 July 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
3. . Oh!FM. Archived from the original on 28 July 2013. Retrieved 1 September 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
4. Wood, Evelyn (2016-10-06). "Succeeding MegaZeux". fuzzy notepad. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
5. Gamasutra, "The Making and Unmaking of a Game-Maker Maker"
6. "Ambrosine's Game Creation Resources & Classic Game Links". Ambrosine's Game Page. 1998–2022. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
7. Cheeseness (2015-07-09). "Cheese talks to himself (about the SLUDGE engine)". Cheese Talks. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
8. Marculescu, Ana (2015-01-03). "Silent Walk FPS Creator". Softpedia. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
9. "Raycasting Game Maker v5.31". JSA's GameDev Page. Retrieved 2023-09-16.
10. Sprinceana, Tudor (2022-02-16). "Easy FPS Editor Lite". Softpedia. Retrieved 2023-09-16.
11. Blizen, Arthur (2023-01-20). "IKEMEN Go Rollback Open Alpha Launches Today". DashFight. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
12. Schaff, Tobias (July 2016). "EasyRPG - An RPG Maker 2000 and 2003 engine". ODROID Magazine. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
13. Famularo, Jessica (2020-04-14). "Zelda's most dedicated fan game developers built an engine anyone can use". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
14. "Sphere RPG Engine". Navioo.

External links

• Game Creation Systems (DOSGames.com)
• Game Creation Systems (SavvyFrog.com)
• Game Creation Tools Classification (creatools.gameclassification.com)